If last night’s Shield capper doesn’t have you uttering the words "best series finale ever," then you’re hopped up on the same nose candy as Shane Vendrell. But as amazing as the episode was, it left me with more than a few nagging questions. Luckily, the man with the answers, series creator Shawn Ryan, just so happens to be on my speed dial. (If you have yet to watch the finale, stop reading now!)
AUSIELLO: I understand Shane committing suicide, but did he have to take wife Mara and son Jackson with him?
SHAWN RYAN: To us, it made sense. I mean, it wasn’t fun to write. But in terms of the overall arc of the show, it felt like the place it should go.
Where was Vic racing off to at the end?
We’ve always viewed Vic as a shark. He’s someone who, in order to survive, has to move forward. Is he going to search for his kids? Is he going to pursue his own sort of police work on his own time? Is he going to do something postal? I don’t know. But I do think the shark swims forward.
Did you want us to think Dutch might have killed Rita (Frances Fisher)? There was that whole cat-strangling after all…
I never felt like Dutch was that far off on the deep end. But we joked about how, in the finale, Dutch would come home and unlock some padlock on a door leading to a basement and there would be a bunch of kids chained to the wall.
Andre Benjamin played a comic book store owner in a 2004 episode, and then turned up again last night as a "candidate" for mayor. Same character?
Yes. In that 2004 episode, he was someone who was upset that prostitutes and drug dealers were occupying the streets that his store was on. He was being very proactive to get them off the street. So our idea was that in the intervening time, he’s actually formalized that kind of agenda and turned it into a fringe mayoral candidacy.
What was your thinking behind including him in the finale?
It allowed us to look at a couple of different opinions of the overarching relationship between police and a city. Obviously, Andre’s character had a very radical, although in some ways commonsensical, ideology about the relationship between police and, as he would call it, the prison state. The Shield has always been a mixture between open-ended storylines and closed-ended storylines. And, so that story just allowed us to tell a closed-ended story that tied into Aceveda’s run for mayor AND Julian and Tina.
Speaking of Julian, why didn’t he eventually come out of the closet?
The place that we had gotten him to by the end of the second season, which was that he went through aversion therapy and was embracing his religion and marrying a woman…I had done a lot of research and reading about people who had taken this path, and a lot of times — most of that time — these people stay on that path for a number of years. And so in the timeline of our story — the entire run of The Shield takes place in about three years — it didn’t seem to me that he would reach crisis point. And I didn’t want to force a story that didn’t feel organic. We did put a nod to it in the finale with the moment where he sees a happy gay couple. I definitely wanted an acknowledgment that that story has not ended for him.
Do you have a favorite moment from the finale?
I really like the final confrontation scene between Claudette and Vic, where she lays those photos out in front of him. I always knew in the back of my mind that I wanted a Claudette-Vic confrontation [in the finale]. I guess what I could not have anticipated when we got there was that Vic doesn’t even really say a word in that scene. I always sort of envisioned the two going at each other, but the way this story broke, it was just Claudette talking. The things Michael Chiklis said without saying anything… it was a real acting triumph.
You weren’t on the set the week the episode was shot last spring due to the writers strike. Is there anything you would have asked the director to do differently had you been there?
The scene with Shane and Mara, where Mara’s in the bed and is having a lot of pain and he’s going to help her to the bathroom…It came off a little lighter and more comedic, and I wanted it to be a little more tragic. I ultimately was able to get the effect I wanted, but it just required a little more work in the editing room. What you saw reflects how I wanted it to be. But it’s a little bit choppier than I would necessarily would have liked.
Will there be a Shield movie?
Hollywood is obviously a place that revisits ideas or shows, and maybe that will happen with The Shield. Maybe not. But I’d only do it under circumstances in which the quality could remain the same."
Any burning questions I forgot to ask? Reaction to the rockin’ finale? Comment away! (Additional reporting by Lynette Rice)
More on ‘The Shield’:
Hollywood Insider: A blow-by-blow of the finale
Note to David Chase: This is how you end a series. (Gillian Flynn’s ‘Shield’ review)
‘The Shield’: Over and Out (an in-depth look at the show from EW’s fall TV preview)
Comments (1-30) of 536 Add your comment
Why didn’t it tell us what Vic is going to do? Did they leave it open for a movie? I can’t stand programs that don’t give a real finale. Remember “La Femme Nikita”? There was such a fan uproar about that one, the producers shot 8 more episodes.
hands down best series finale ever. david chase could have learned how to end a series from shawn ryan
Thank you for seven great seasons.
Please ask Shawn Ryan how does it feel to be a genius? This last episode was brilliant. Spoiler – I am sick about Ronnie going to jail. I couldnt beleive the Vic let happen. I knew he was going to tip Ronnie off somehow so he could run. VIc was clearly walking to the depths of hell as he was getting his “tour” of the ICE offices. The only thing missing were the flames. Brilliant. This is how a show should end.
I thought I felt bad for Lem a few years ago….Ronnie got it worse.
The finale broke my heart. I hated seeing Ronnie get screwed like that. And that final image of Jackson and Mara…wow…heavy
I was disappointed in the way it ended. Ronnie in prison for life, Vic continuing on day to day without his family and friends. After all the years I put into this show i walked away unsatisfied. It doesn’t feel like closure.
Loved the finale but MAN, it would have been more tragic had they stopped after pulling Ronnie away and Claudette says to Vic, something to the effect of “You can go now.”
I am kind of torn about the series ender tonight. I liked, no i hated that shane killed himself (because he was my favorite character), I mean come on, we all knew that was gonna happen, he should have got the hell outta cali. when he had the chance. But I guess I just didn’t like knowing if the pscyho kid was gonna kill again or what in the hell was Vick gonna go. I guess I really hope this all leads up to a movie. All in all, thumbs up.
This was a wonderful show I’ll excruciatingly miss… like losing a favorite relative, not unexpectedly but still too prematurely.
I don’t get how Vic could of turned on Ronnie after he was always loyal to Lem. It felt forced that the producers were making Vic out to be a completely bad person.
I was totally in love with the finale until the final scene, which just left questions about Vic.
What a horrible ending to the series, they attempted to do a Sopranos ending but failed. I was very unhappy how the show ended, everything seemed rushed and no closure at all.
Great final episode. But I still can’t believe Vic let Ronnie take the fall. That’s some messed up stuff. But great finale, it’ll be missed.
Vic is off to eat a bullet. It’s the only way his family could have a normal life. That’s what I got out of it…and puh-lease…no movie and no spin off. Didn’t we learn anything watching ‘After M*A*S*H’ and ‘Archie Bunker’s Place’? Let it be.
Dear Shawn Ryan: Wait about 10 years, then do a short 1 minute film of Vic Mackey’s doorbell ringing, him opening the door, and Ronnie Gardocki putting a bullet in his forehead. I can’t think of a more fitting way for Vic to go down.
Vic might have got away from jail, but he did not win. Brilliant Shane scenes.
The show as brilliant and fitting. But it was not “the best series finale ever.” That distinction still belongs to “Newhart” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”
Whatever happened to Ausiello’s spoiler about a car being involved in the final scene?????
One the best shows ever !!!!! Great ending to a great show . I will miss it very much .
It is my firm belief that Claudette, Dutch and the blond fed woman are either dead in their beds or currently being hunted by Vic. The only thing that mattered to Vic more than the Strike team was his family and the three folks took his family from him. Also, my read on it is he thought After his wife’s bust, Vic thought Ronnie was working with the cops and that, in addition to getting his wife immunity was why he took the immunity deal. Remember what Vic did to the guy who he thought killed Lem and take a mental leap forward. Shawn Ryan said it himself, Vic is a shark. In addition to always being in motion, they are always hunting. Great show, GREAT ending!
I respect your opinion but out of curiosity, what is your definition of closure in the contexts of this particular show? Even if the few ambiguous things were less ambiguous there would still be a yearning for more. To me that’s a sign of great television since it’s so compelling that we always want to know more, as opposed to a sign of disappointment. To each their own though.
I agree, great finale. However, I can’t see how a movie could be made from whats left now. I only wish they could do something with Dutch, by far the most interesting character in television in the past twenty years.
This is how a series finale is supposed to be! It tied everything up, yet Ryan left the true fans with a gnawing feeling of wanting to know more. Where was Vic going? Does Steve ever win his lawsuit against the city? (haha) I can’t believe I was actually feeling sorry for Shane after hating him for so long. The writing for this show was amazing. The Shield’s will go down as one of the best series finales ever filmed. I will miss the show badly.
I didn’t like how everyone turned on each other the last couple years. I loved the first season when the strike team were pals and did whatever they wanted laughing and joking.
The series finale was promoted as a real ending but it wasn’t!!! We have no idea where Vic is off to or what he will do. NO CLOSURE!
He had tears in his eyes, does anyone think he went to the restroom to kill himself with the gun he took out at the end? He can’t live without his family so maybe he they will find his body the next morning.
Thanks for the best show on TV! Only Pacino’s Antonio Montana (“Scarface”) can rival such a villainous protagonist that an audience could cheer and sympathize. The finale had to have the unexpected (Ronny’s demise, death of Vendrell’s family…and Vic’s cubicle prison) just as every week’s episode would end with the unexpected or a new jam for Vic. I only hope a movie is coming.
Who do we petition for another season?!?! It worked once before right? I already miss it!
I don’t like the ending AT ALL
Vic’s demise, ok, I get it, but the character everyone watched for 7 seasons WOULD NOT have let Ronnie go down like that. The REAL Vic wouldn’t have sweated any charges against Corinne and would’ve spun it in a way that made him go to jail instead of her and instead of Ronnie. This is the same character that was willing to go to jail for Lem, AND let Shane kill him (earlier season) because his friends WERE his family. I don’t like the ending. Didn’t feel “organic”. Felt forced. Felt like, we started out the series with a cop killing a fellow cop, so we have to end it with the cop killer doing something that makes the viewers hate him….the Ronnie sellout. I feel just about as sold out as Ronnie does after watching this finale. Btw, myspace.com/suedeinvite. Good music. Never selling out
Still amazing show tho
yessrrrr
I don’t have the words to express how amazed I was with this finale. All the haters can hate all they want, I’m off to get my Shield Tattoo tomorrow!
This is a buncha balogna!!!!!
Vic sacrificed since day 1 to protect his team and his family…and yes himself, but not at their expenses
Then they sell us out like this?
I’m agreeing with Suede
And good music too my dude
This finale’s an outrage!
Very powerful episode. It left me stunned, shocked, saddened – my emotions were all over the place. It was a brilliant finale and I am glad to have watched such an awesome and amazing show. Thank you to everyone who worked behind the scenes and delivered quality episodes for seven straight seasons! I will miss this show tremendously.
Spoiler Alert….
Vic was headed home to watch the last episode of The Wire so he can see how much he has in common with the way Marlo Stanfield’s life turned out. You know, the whole not being able to do the one thing that makes him who he is and being stuck doing the thing that he can’t tolerate.